Today marks the end of what is surely one of the worst terms in #SCOTUS history. Guns and prayer and abortion got most of the attention. But that's not all the Court did. Here are just some of the Court's bad decisions:
1/25
Rivas-Villegas -- SCOTUS reversed the lower court to give a cop qualified immunity for using excessive force
2/25
Tahlequah v. Bond -- SCOTUS reversed the lower court to give a cop qualified immunity for killing a man
3/25
Shoop v. Twyford -- SCOTUS made it harder to get habeas relief
4/25
Brown v. Davenport -- SCOTUS made it harder to get habeas relief
5/25
Shinn v. Ramirez -- SCOTUS made it harder to get habeas relief
6/25
Zubaydah -- SCOTUS allowed the Govt to withhold information about torture on CIA black sites
7/25
Vaello-Madero -- SCOTUS denied SS benefits to residents of Puerto Rico
8/25
Cummings -- SCOTUS disallowed recovery for emotional-distress damages in civil rights lawsuits
9/25
Patel -- SCOTUS stripped federal courts of jurisdiction to review fact issues in immigration proceedings
10/25
Biden v. Missouri -- SCOTUS blocked a federal vaccine mandate
11/25
Garland v. Gonzalez -- SCOTUS denied long-detained immigrants' access to a bond hearing
12/25
Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez -- SCOTUS denied long-detained immigrants' access to a bond hearing
13/25
FEC v. Ted Cruz -- SCOTUS struck down campaign finance restrictions to enable Ted Cruz to pay himself back for loans he made to his own campaign
14/25
Egbert v. Boule -- SCOTUS further limited a person's ability to sue federal officers (Bivens actions)
15/25
Vega v. Tekah -- SCOTUS weakened enforcement of Miranda rights
16/25
Carson v. Makin -- SCOTUS undermined the Establishment Clause, forcing states to fund private religious schools
17/25
Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist. -- SCOTUS undermined the Establishment Clause, allowing football coach to have public/publicized Christian prayers at football games
18/25
Denezpi -- SCOTUS recognized tribal sovereignty just enough to allow an Indian defendant to be prosecuted twice for the same crime (no double jeopardy), then...
19/25
Castro-Huerta -- SCOTUS undermined tribal sovereignty by making tribal land "part of state" and allowing state to exercise jurisdiction on tribal land
20/25
Bruen -- SCOTUS struck down NY's 100yo restriction on concealed carry to expand 2A and limit gun restrictions
21/25
U.S. v. Texas -- SCOTUS allowed Texas's "bounty hunter" antiabortion law to go into effect
22/25
Dobbs -- SCOTUS overruled Roe & Casey, eliminating the federal right to abortion and enabling severe (life-threatening) restrictions on abortion to go into effect
23/25
West Virginia v. EPA -- SCOTUS undermined the EPA's ability to regulate emissions and fight global warming
24/25
And it must be noted that this isn't everything. SCOTUS also did things on the shadow docket -- like allow Louisiana's racial gerrymander to stay in effect for the 2022 election, etc.
Just a terrible, terrible, terrible term.
25/25
Going to go ahead and add onto this thread that there were a handful of positive decisions. They were mostly minor -- but (thankfully) there were a couple big wins.
1/14
Hemphill -- SCOTUS strengthened the 6A right to confront witnesses
2/14
Thompson v. Clark -- SCOTUS made it slightly easier to pursue a claim for malicious prosecution
3/14
Ramirez v. Collier -- SCOTUS protected the religious rights of a death-row inmate
4/14
Taylor -- SCOTUS declined to enhance the punishment for certain crimes
5/14
Concepcion -- SCOTUS gave district courts more discretion to reduce criminal sentences
6/14
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo -- SCOTUS prevented Texas from trying to regulate gaming on tribal land
7/14
Morgan v. Sundance -- SCOTUS prevented courts from making up procedural rules that favor arbitration
8/14
Golan v. Saada -- SCOTUS gave district courts more discretion to resolve international child-custody disputes
9/14
Saxon -- SCOTUS ruled in favor of certain workers trying to avoid arbitration
10/14
Kemp -- SCOTUS broadened a procedural mechanism for challenging erroneous judgments
11/14
Nance v. Ward -- SCOTUS recognized a procedural mechanism for challenging method of execution
12/14
Biden v. Texas -- SCOTUS ruled that the Biden Admin could rescind the Trump Admin's "remain in Mexico" asylum policy
13/14
Torres -- SCOTUS allowed veterans to sue state-agency employers (denied the state's sovereign immunity)
14/14
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Ok, I promised I was going to tell a story about a case I've been working on. I said I'd wait a couple weeks but I can't wait. Buckle up. This is about the police and 4A violations. Full disclosure: I’m telling this story as an advocate for Mrs. W. 1/ #AppellateTwitter
One night around 2am, police get a 911 call about "trespassers." When they show up, they find out it's a 22yo woman in a nice suburban neighborhood, calling to complain about her 14yo brother's friends, who came over looking for him (and for a “grinder”) when he wasn't home. 2/
One of these 14yos lives next door, which is where the boys went when they left. The officers laugh with Mom, about Big Sister's attempt to get Little Brother and his friends in trouble. Then they offer to go next door and give the boys a "scare." 3/